Today I mostly .....

[Zelandeth]

Was somewhat concerned when I walked out to the Saab and noted that the puddle behind where I usually park the car was neon pink. Suspiciously coolant coloured. Checked the coolant though and it was exactly where I left it, as were all the other fluid levels which I checked while I was there. Scratched my head a bit, decided it must have been left by someone else who had parked there the day before or something, and continued with my journey.

Noticed when getting back to the car in a car park however that there was a growing neon pink puddle directly underneath my offside rear mudflap. The penny dropped.

Opening the boot revealed that the 5 litre bottle of pre-mixed coolant in there had burst. Literally burst, split right down the seam, not a drop left in the bottle. I have to assume the bottle escaped from its corner and bounced around the boot, quite possibly as a result of the rear end shunt a couple of days ago. What a mess! Boot floor saturated, about half an inch of it across the width of the car in the spare wheel well (it had washed bits of paper from down there which had then disintegrated into the drain holes), and everything that was in there soaked. Of course because it was coolant mix as well, it's left a horrible sticky, greasy residue on everything.

So took everything out, and will wash the floor panel etc tomorrow and leave it in the conservatory for a few days to dry out. Will also clean out the floor area and get it dry, give it all a good coat of Kurust, some Dinitrol afterwards and then put everything back together again.

...On the plus side, the carpet in there did need cleaning anyway...On the negative side, I've a lot more cleaning now to do, and I've lost 5 litres of coolant, and that stuff is annoyingly expensive.

Think I'll go back to my old storage solution - cleaned out pop bottles! This is the second time I've had a 5 litre bottle fail on me! First time thankfully was just plain water though. Pop bottles are a lot sturdier. Plus they're slim enough that they can live in the other side of the under-floor storage compartment in the boot.

Also gave the area around where the car was parked a good wash over, tried to rinse as much of the stuff down the nearby drain as possible as I don't want the neighbours cats or anything drinking it. Didn't have anything on hand which would absorb it, so figured at least trying to get rid of it was the better idea.

PS: Yes, I know that the Saab wouldn't originally have run OAT coolant - but that's what it had in when I got it, and has had ever since. Given the issues generally seem to arise when the older type of antifreeze interacts with the OAT stuff, I'm figuring that as the system is behaving I'm just going to leave it well alone and stick with the same type. It's been flushed twice since I got it anyway, so figure that there isn't really any residue from the older type left by now. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Zelandeth]

I do!

Generally it gets done yearly actually on the basis of the fact that I'm more likely to remember to do it yearly rather than every other year - and that (until recently) I lived somewhere that it got at least reasonably cold in the winter, so it was good for peace of mind to know it was fresh.

...Plus until the last couple of years I tended to buy and sell cars often enough that I usually ended up flushing several systems a year! One of the first things I always do when I get a car, usually immediately following the oil and filter change.

[excossack]

Been out with the camera taking night time pictures of the local docks and Liverpool waterfront.

[Zelandeth]

Will see about grabbing a couple of pics tomorrow. It's still not actually hooked to the computer, though I do have all the bits on the shelf now to do it - will probably wait until we're in the new house, so I then don't have to move it again for a while!

The actual cooling unit itself is basically done now save for the monitoring system (again, have all the bits - just going to build that), one fan (though that may get ignored given its apparent ability to shed stupid amounts of heat already!) and the thermal control for the fans (likely again home-brew as I think I have everything I need) - oh, and cosmetics such as painting the case and making a front panel from wood to replace the cardboard one which will serve as a template. Again - once we're settled so that I can access my tools!

Control box still needs to be done as well, though I need a spare Skoda 105/120/130 temperature gauge before I can finish that as that will be the temperature readout (with the scale in deg F rather than C as it will then cover roughly the right range). That's going to involve centralising a LOT of the spaghetti under and around the desk as well though so will be a longer-term project!

[excossack]

A link (hopefully) to the pictures I took last night
http://s897.photobucket.com/user/excossack/library/

[Zelandeth]

Today I (and my other half) mostly...

...Wasted an entire day thanks to the total utter incompetence of the UK Border Agency.

Having now been here for two years as my partner, the time has come for the visa for indefinite leave to remain to be applied for.

The guidance notes here on their website this states that the two year leave to remain period (which must be completed) starts from the date on which the initial leave to remain was granted on the first visa prior to the further leave to remain being granted after we formally became partners.

Turns out that this is WRONG - and that we can't apply until less than 28 days before the current visa expires. This we didn't discover until we'd been in the office for between three and four hours. The decision then being delivered to us by a very blunt gentleman who didn't really give us the time of day, and insisted that it was "impossible" that there could have been advice telling us that we could apply.

Thankfully they have agreed to refund the fee (which is in excess of two grand!), though we have been advised that the £100 administration fee for the appointment is non-refundable. Plus getting into London cost us money (not exactly a fan of travelling into London anyway!), and there's a day's leave been used for the appointment.

There's going to be a very strongly worded letter getting sent to them tomorrow I think, once my head is a bit clearer.

Right now I'm just fizzing at the sheer incompetence of the organisation and the way in which it was handled by the caseworker at the office.

They seriously need to get their act together.

[Zelandeth]

True enough I guess.

Blarg...

[Hannesb]

Good advice from GB; my wife and I enjoyed the same experience a few years back. Smile, nod and take down names for later vengeance...

[Zelandeth]

Washed the Saab, had a brief panic that one of the rear wheel arches were falling apart, but ceased in the panic when I realised that it was just a bit of the mud flap bracket disintegrating. No big worry, especially as that flap really needs changing at some point. Poor thing really could do with a decent polish and wax though, is looking quite flat. Will get that done as soon as the weather actually stays dry long enough.

Started giving serious consideration to going down the road and taking a look at this: Link.

Aside from the one slightly crusty wheel arch (NSR, no surprise there) and maybe a bit of crazing on the paint on the OSF wing, looks a pretty tidy example, though on the honest enough side of immaculate to give a bit of confidence - a completely immaculate car always makes me suspicious. Figuring on a grand or so to get that arch and paint sorted would still be coming in at a reasonable level based on what these seem to go for these days. Plus it's in the perfect colour with the right interior...

[Hannesb]

Passed my CCENT exam! Chuffed as a very chuffed thing about that.

[Neil Chowney]

OK, i'll do it.......... what's a CCENT?

[Hannesb]

Hehe... Cisco Certified Entry Network Technician; it is the first of two exams to achieve CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Administrator). It basically means that I'm allowed to do the job that I have been doing for the last Decade. I also hope it means that they should pay me more; I have a bit of paper that proves how insanely clever I am now...

[GvidoR]

Nobody sells tools at 8AM. [insert swear word here]

[Zelandeth]

Spent the whole day today (and yesterday) packing boxes because we're moving in a week. Fed up of it now, really fed up! We officially have too much stuff.

Also had to dig out some bits of lighting kit when the fitting in the garage decided to pack in this afternoon - will take a look at it tomorrow in the daylight. I suspect that it's just the series capacitor that's packed in rather than the ballast itself given how it's behaving.

[GvidoR]

Tried plasti dip for the first time. Turned out really well, I think.